Gordon to Comelec: Scrutinize poll automation bids well
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Independent Senator Richard J. Gordon today cautioned the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to be fair
in scrutinizing bids for the automation of the May 2010 presidential elections to ensure its successful
implementation.
Gordon, author of the amended Automated Elections System Law, advised the Comelec to look for the "most
responsive and economical" bid as the special bids and awards committee opens the sealed bids on
Monday (May 4).
“So much is at stake here. Automating the 2010 presidential election is very crucial to how we will progress
as a country in the next decade. So it is up to the Comelec to ensure that it will push through successfully.
We can and must do it better,” he said.
“The Comelec should not just get the lowest bid. The lowest bid is not always the most responsive bid. If
poll automation will not push through, we will suffer for another six years at the hands of candidates whose
proclamations are questionable,” he added.
The submission and opening of sealed bids for the automation of the May 2010 national and local elections
by the special bids and awards committee were set for April 27 but the poll body decided to reset it to May 4.
The Comelec’s decision to postpone the submission and opening of bids for the automation was greeted
with further criticism regarding its alleged unpreparedness to automate the 2010 elections as mandated by
Republic Act 9369.
RA 9369, or the amended Automated Elections System Law, was signed into law in January 2007 and
authorized the Comelec to use any automated election system of the "most secure and appropriate
technology" in the May 2007 elections..
Last month, the P11.3-billion supplemental budget that the Comelec would need for the full automation was
approved, enabling the poll body to start preparations, despite admonition from doomsayers.
Gordon, former chairman of the Senate oversight committee on AES, also called on poll automation critics to
stop attacking and instead help the Comelec in fixing the problem.
“We appreciate your concerns and reservations. However, we have to make poll automation work, if we don’t
want to endure another cheating-marred elections,” he said.
“Instead of attacking the Comelec and predicting failure, we should just help in fine-tuning the system and
the preparations undertaken in order to fix the problem,” he added. (30/lap)
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